She was then ordered to the South Atlantic to patrol against Axis blockade runners on the Far East route, returning to Gibraltar in November for Operation Torch, the North African landings.

It consisted of cruisers Sirius, Aurora, Argonaut and destroyers Quentin and Quiberon, which intercepted a small Axis convoy in the Sicilian Channel destined for Tunisia, starting the Battle of Skerki Bank.

For the next few months she supported the army ashore, and in September took part in the occupation of Taranto before transferring to the Adriatic, where, on 7 October 1943 Sirius, Penelope and the destroyers Faulknor and Fury, engaged the enemy north of Astipalea (Stampalia) in the Dodecanese, where they attacked a German convoy consisting of the auxiliary submarine chaser Uj 2111 (former Italian gunboat Tramaglio), the cargo ship Olympus and seven Marinefährprahm, sinking all but one MFP.

She was hit on the quarterdeck by a 250 kg bomb, starting fires aft and killing 14 sailors, forcing her to withdraw to Massawa for repairs.

[2] These were carried out between November 1943 and February 1944, when the ship returned to Britain for Operation Overlord, the Normandy landings, where she was part of the reserve of the Eastern Task Force.